a's

n't s

n for a

taken one sharp breath and was still waiting for mine. I lay in bed, eyes wide open, watching headlights flic

iage c

str

a w

ssible to forget. The way he'd said my name like it was carved i

d my wrist? It hadn't felt human. It h

hat's what he

ine. Chosen

e-and my gut rarely lied. It was the only thing I tr

irror. Same girl, different reality. I still had the same smudged eyeliner and diner uniform, still li

t you do when you're barely holding your life together-you go throu

nothi

led about politics and weather. My hands moved on autopilot-pl

the key to something far b

. I slipped it from my apron pocket, expecting a text from Maya. A

wasn'

a. I'll be waiting for you at the Bla

emojis. Just

t dried

ckthorn

ling mansion hidden in the city's bones, cloaked in secrecy and whispers. The ki

de to go. I j

as being

. The estate rose behind them like something out of a dream. Or a nightmare. Modern lines a

groaning slowly, as though the

pped

gold under the fading sun. Everything was too perfect-t

front doo

here

Wolfe.

Eyes like cut glass. Standing tall in the doorway like

d calm, like I hadn't spent all ni

aid, though my legs felt weak benea

the edge of his mouth. "I'm no

alth-it dripped with it. From the vaulted ceilings to the oil paintings to the flickering

led like old books and something wild beneath the surface-like pin

," I said. "No

ruth. Fine. You're a Moonborn, Aria. One of the last. Your bloodline was hidden, b

ct?" I said. "Is

You're meant to stand beside me-as my Luna. That means you lea

ord tasting like metal on my

ork without you. We don't work without you. You don't know it yet, but your power is wakin

th something unreada

s your pitch? 'Marry me or g

change. "I'm giving yo

in my ears. I wanted to run. I wanted to scream. I want

ifting inside me. I could feel it. A hum beneath

ay no?" I as

e a man carrying a burden too big for one lifetim

again, heavy

scared me more-sayi

one thing f

oice I made

s no goi

re with heightened tension, a deeper dive into Aria's i